How we met

Tyler and Aimee first laid eyes on each other on the front lawn of the Bemidji fire station. It was early in the cross country running season and the team was doing their daily warmup. The coach introduced 15-year-old Aimee, a shy newcomer who had relocated to Bemidji after flood waters ravaged her family's home. Tyler was a popular high school senior who paid no attention to Aimee this particular day. With his bleach-blonde hair, baggy shorts and earring, he was busy goofing off with his punk friends, which left Aimee totally unimpressed.

Fast forward to the end of the school year. Tyler had just graduated and Aimee was adjusting to the recent move. It was a hot summer night (around June 28, 1998) and Aimee was hanging out with a friend who suggested they stop by the Edgewater Motel to visit her sister and some friends. Soon after they arrived, so did Tyler and one of his friends. The group of four talked for hours, then took a paddle boat ride on Lake Bemidji. Aimee proceeded to light up a cigarette, hoping to impress the boys, although Tyler was the least bit amused when Aimee started to cough. (Aimee has since quit smoking)

The next day, to the dismay of Aimee's parents, Tyler picked up her and her friend for a golf date in his 1984 red Ford Escort, which could be heard approaching from a mile away. The car dripped oil on the driveway, which is a big no-no with Aimee's Dad. During the golf game, it was unclear to Aimee if Tyler was interested in her or her friend.

A few days later, Tyler's band Sofakingdom played a battle of the bands show at the waterfront. When Aimee showed up wearing gym shorts and a ponytail, it became very clear to her that she didn't quite fit in. But, after watching the band play, Aimee was intrigued. She rushed out to buy a black studded belt. Then, Tyler headed out of town to the Winnipeg Folk Festival and brought back Aimee a friendship bracelet. From that day, it was official. Tyler and Aimee became the unlikely couple who helped merge a group of teenage punks and preps who, almost 10 years later, are still friends. Aimee's parents have since approved.

(High school graduation photos. I guess we went to the same photographer.)

A blue and green day

As promised, the green weddings article is linked below in pdf format for easy viewing. There are some new "green" links to the left, too. Please be patient while the file takes about 30 seconds of your time to download.

Download page one here
Download page two here

Allow me to stray from wedding stuff and brag for a moment about the current weather in Minneapolis, Minn. Right now it's 81 degrees outside -- and that's a record, folks! It's too bad the Star Tribune still has the heat on. No joke. It's probably 80 degrees here at my desk. The view from my desk of the metrodome beneath the blue sky tricks me into thinking I'm actually enjoying the outdoors vs. sitting at a desk. It's funny to think that less than three weeks ago I was tumbling down snow-clad hills at the local cross country ski trails with Tyler. No joke. I still have the blisters to prove it.

Note to self: stop at Target on the way home and pick up a small fan for desk.

Thrill of the bundt

I may be apathetic with writing about green weddings, but I can talk bundt cakes all day. In fact, ever since I wrote about the Jamaican rum cake, it's pretty much all I can think about. The bundt has inspired me to give a hoot about the wedding cake after all. So I did a little thinking, a little web surfing and a little math. Yes, journalists may use their fingers, but we can still do basic math.

If I buy three of the mini bundt pans, which hold 12 cakes, I can make 150 of them in a matter of a few hours and about three rounds of baking. The pan pictured is from Williams-Sonoma for $32, but I'm sure I can find them for closer to $20. That would be a total of $60 for cake pans alone. :( Seems a bit much, unless I use Betty Crocker cake mixes and go the do-it-yourself route. I'd still have to figure out a way to incorporate the Jamaican Rum. I'll call on my friend Chef Isaac for his expertise. Maybe I can just mix in a chocolate rum sauce. Or, we can have Rum Creme as one of the toppings. We'd have to put that out of reach of the little kiddies.

Then there's Mom, who says she knows someone who makes beautiful wedding cakes for $100. Decisions, decisions. Good thing I've got 15 months to go.

By the way ... I ordered a dress! If you really want to see it, e-mail me at aimeeblanchette@comcast.net.

Craigslist is back!

We all knew it was going to happen sooner or later. Today I made my first wedding-related purchase on Craigslist.


Aren't they pretty? For $50 I got 28 of these vintage blue glass Bell mason jars. I'll use them to make lanterns to hang or set on the tables. I'll probably put sand in the bottom and use votive wax candles or oil candles. If I get some sturdy wire we can hang them from a rope tied to a few trees. It will be pretty and practical, providing a lighted path for our guests when it gets dark.

I've spent the last few days reporting a story about "green" weddings. I'm a little "over it" at the moment, but when I find my positive attitude I'll post the article and a few links to some eco-friendly wedding websites. I don't know that we'll go so far as to hand out energy efficient light bulbs as favors, but Tyler and I will do our best to be green, too.

Mmmmmmm

I just made and ate homemade chocolate chip banana bread warmed with vanilla ice cream, so now I feel compelled to write about wedding cake. I would really like to have a Jamaican rum cake. It would be fun to have miniature rum cakes with do-it-yourself toppings: chocolate, whipped cream, fruit ... I wonder how long it would take to make 100 mini bundt cakes if you had only one pan? I'll be dreaming about bundt cakes tonight.

Anyway, I'm not too concerned about the cake. I just want it to taste good and be cheap. I'm neutral about having a white wedding cake. I could have one. Or I couldn't. An old-fashioned yellow cake with chocolate frosting would suit me just fine. No frills and frosted flowers. Just good old-fashioned cake.

And the Little Debbie cake will be making it into the festivities one way or another. Especially now that I see how beautiful it can be. FOR REAL!

Dress update: Mom and sis are heading down on Thursday to hit the Wedding Shoppe. Kari will be joining us, too. Last weekend's trip to Nordstrom was unsuccessful, however Kari and I had a good time trying on the ugliest dresses we could find ... and there were a lot of them! I made Kari try on a lovely magenta number with gold polka dots and a bubble hem. I'm not sure if the dress was meant to be worn with pants or what, but it was SHORT!